This past weekend–and the coming weeks–are packed full of stuff. It’s the busiest time of year for us, usually, but it’s also the best.
My dad left on Friday, after having spent the week with us for Thanksgiving. Friday night, as soon as Sona got home, we went to get our Christmas tree. It’s always a challenge to wait until after Thanksgiving–and sometimes we don’t–but we try not to be TOO obnoxiously enthusiastic about Christmas (especially since, technically, I’m a Jew). But getting the Christmas tree is always one of my favorite weekends of the year. It’s the beginning of what I know will be non-stop time with family and friends. There’s cookies! And Christmas movies! And snow! Am I annoying you, yet? If you know me, you know this is not hyperbole. I really get that excited.
So, we bundled Finn up in as may layers as we could get on him, and we headed for the neighborhood garden shop where we always buy our tree. After just a couple of minutes of looking, a sales person came over and kindly said, “We’re closing in 5 minutes.” I panicked! I couldn’t possibly wait another day for our tree. So, I did what any sane person would do: I pointed at the first tree I saw and shouted, “We’ll take that one!”
That’s us, posing in front of the tree that we didn’t yet know would be 6 inches too tall for our apartment.Refusing to be defeated, we chopped the top of the tree off, drug her inside, and crossed our fingers, hoping that the many gaps in the way-too-big tree would fill out by morning.
They did!
Saturday, we got up and headed to brunch downtown with some very good friends who, sadly, no longer live in Chicago. We hadn’t seen them in nearly two years, and they hadn’t met Finn.
We braved a busy restaurant, ate a delicious brunch–complete with mimosas–and spent a couple of hours exploring the area.
Finn kept up with us like a champ. We rewarded him with a nearly 3-hour “family nap” when we got home. (He sleeps really well when we all sleep together.)
That night, we woke up, put on Home Alone, ordered pizza, and started decorating. That’s our thing. It’s my most favorite thing, actually.
Finn watched us decorate for a looooong time. He sat in his MamaRoo, mesmerized by all of the commotion. And the lights.
Despite the fact that it’s kissing the ceiling, this year’s tree may be my favorite yet. Of course, that has everything to do with who was watching us put it up.
Sunday, we woke up, drove to the ‘burbs, and met friends for our annual holiday family photos. They take photos of us; we take photos of them (more of those, later). Really, we were just excited to get Finn together with his bestie, Veen. They were SO excited, too. Can’t ya tell?
After an hour of photos in the cold, and after lunch with our friends, we headed home. Since Finn was a champ through such a busy weekend, not getting cranky on us once, we rewarded him with another family nap. (Okay, okay. Mommas were also just really tired.)
Tomorrow, Finn has his own Christmas photo shoot. Thursday, my bestie flies in from Texas, and we have a weekend full of stuff planned. Next week, we are taking Finn to meet Santa. Then more family comes. Then Sona and I have our holiday date night. Then more family comes. Then we have like 1,438 Chicago Christmas traditions to introduce Finn to.
It’ll be a busy month, for sure, but it’s my favorite time of year–in my favorite year ever–with my favorite little boy. And I’m SO stoked.